The Jewish Manual eBook

Make into a batter one ounce and a half of potatoe
flour, with the same quantity of grated cheese and
of butter, and a quarter of a pint of milk or cream;
add a little salt, very little pepper, and the well-beaten
yolks of four fine fresh eggs; when all this is well
mixed together, pour in the whites of the eggs, well
whisked to a froth; pour the mixture into a deep soup
plate or dish, used expressly for the purpose, and
bake in a moderate oven. The dish should be only
half filled with the fondu, as it will rise
very high. It must be served the moment it is
ready, or it will fall. It is a good plan to hold
a salamander over it while being brought to table.

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PETITS FONDEAUS.

Make a batter as for a fondu, but use rice flour or
arrow root instead of potatoe flour; add the egg in
the same manner as for a fondu, and pour the mixture
into small paper trays fringed round the top.
The mixture should only half fill the trays or cases.

CHAPTER VI.

Pastry.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING PASTE.

To make good light paste requires much practice; as
it is not only from the proportions, but from the
manner of mixing the various ingredients, that paste
acquires its good or bad qualities.

Paste should be worked up very lightly, and no strength
or pressure used; it should be rolled out from
you, as lightly as possible. A marble slab
is better than a board to make paste on.

The flour should be dried for some time before the
fire previously to being used. In forming it
into paste it should be wetted as little as possible,
to prevent its being tough. It is a great mistake
to imagine lard is better adapted for pastry
than butter or clarified fat; it may make the paste
lighter, but neither the color nor the flavor will
be nearly so good, and the saving is extremely trifling.

To ensure lightness, paste should be set in the oven
directly it is made.

Puff paste requires a brisk oven.

Butter should be added to the paste in small pieces.

The more times the paste is folded and rolled, if
done with a light hand and the butter added with skill,
the richer and lighter it will prove. It is no
longer customary to line the dish for pies and fruit
tarts.

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PLAIN PUFF PASTE.

Mix a pound of flour into a stiff paste with a little
water, first having rubbed into it about two ounces
of butter, then roll it out; add by degrees the remainder
of the butter (there should be altogether half a pound
of butter), fold the paste and roll about two or three
times.

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VERY RICH PUFF PASTE.

Mix in the same manner equal quantities of butter
and flour, taking care to have the flour dried for
a short time before the fire; it may be folded and
rolled five or six times. This paste is well suited
to vol-au-vents and tartlets; an egg well beaten and
mixed with the paste is sometimes added.